Thursday, September 23, 1999 - The Michigan Daily - 13A
Saturday's matchups - Powder
puffs to play powerhouses
By Rohit Bhave
For the Daily
No. I FLORIDA STATE (3-0) AT
NORTH CAROLINA (1-1): The
minoles face another ACC pre-
tender in the Tar Heels. While the
Heels lack an established running
game, they do possess a multi-threat
quarterback in Ronald Curry, who is
also their leading rusher. Although
Curry has shown the ability to make
big plays outside the pocket, the
'Notes' fierce pass rush, led by
defensive end Jamal Reynolds,
should tee off on the one-dimension-
1 orth Carolina offense.
'WTravis Minor will shred the
depleted, young linebackmg crew of
North Carolina, as Peter Warrick and
Chris Weinke burn the inexperienced
secondary. Look for the.'Noles to
chop away by halftime in this ACC
yawner.
FLORIDA STATE 42, NORTH
CAROLINA 10.
NDIANA (1-2) Ai No. 2 PENN
SWE (4-0) (ESPN 12 P.M.): The
Hoosiers have lost both their games
:his season, despite topping 30
points in each contest. Their sieve-
ike defense has allowed a combined
951 yards of total offense, and 86
>oints in their losses to North
Carolina and Kentucky. Indiana
:oach Cam Cameron has been grum-
>ling about his team's inability to
ackle effectively. That will cost
when they face the Nittany
Ltns.
Wideout Chafie Fields and the rest
if Penn State's skill players have
hown a remarkable ability to break
>g plays this year. An underlying
seakness though, has been an inabil-
ty to mount a consistent running
ttack. They won't need a consistent
unning game if Fields, Eddie
)rummond, and Eric McCoo can get
*the open field.
The Hoosiers are dangerous on
ffense with Antwaan Randle-El at
uarterback. Randle-El is a pass-run
hreat, but Penn State's athletic line-
acking trio of Mac Morrison, LaVar
krrington, and Brandon Short
hould corral him if he breaks out-
ide. If they can't, the Hoosiers
night take the Lions deep into the
ame. My guess is that they won't.
*NN STATE 28, INDIANA 17
No. 3 FLORIDA (3-0) AT
ENTUCKY (2-1) (ESPN 7:30):
Dusty Bonner and the pass-happy
Wildcats lit up Indiana last weekend,
but they're going to face a much
quicker defense in the Gators this
week. Look for Kentucky coach Hal
Mumme to use running back
Anthony White (5.5 yards per carry)
on draws and traps out of the shot-
gun, as well as throw quick-outs and
slants to slow down a fierce Florida
pass-rush, led by quick defensive
end Alex Brown (five sacks against
Tennessee). Kentucky may move the
ball, but its defense will not be able
to handle Florida's outside speed, or
Doug Johnson's rocket arm.
Look for Steve Spurrier to use
gamebreaker Bo Carroll at wideout,
running back, and kick returner. This
game should resemble a track meet
for a while, but look for the faster,
deeper Gators to pull away after half-
time.
FLORIDA 42, KENTUCKY 21.
SOUTHERN Miss (2-1) AT No. 6
TEXAS A&M (2-0): The Golden
Eagles played tough against
Nebraska's once-hallowed option last
week (41 carries, 119 yds rushing)
but their offense squandered the
valiant effort by committing six
turnovers.
This week they face the Wrecking
Crew, led by linebackers Roylin
Bradley and Cornelius Anthony.
Fortunately for the Eagles, the
Aggies rely on their ground game to
set up their play-action passing
game
If they can stuff the elusive Dante
flail and battering-ram Jamar
Toombs, look for a tight defensive
struggle. Texas A&M had better
come to play against the gutsy
Eagles, or they may be on the wrong
side of the scoreboard.
TEXAS A&M 20, SOUTHERN
MISsIssIPPI 17.
No. 14 ARKANSAS (2-0) AT
ALABAMA (2-1): The heart-broken
Crimson Tide must regroup after giv-
ing up a last-second game-winning,
fourth-and-28 touchdown pass to
Louisiana Tech. leisman Trophy
contending running back Shaun
Alexander will try to carry an ane-
mic and mistake-prone offense on
his shoulders, but the passing game
must improve from last week.
The Tide defense must contend
with the Razorbacks' vertical pass-
ing (quarterback Clint Stoerner aver-
ages 9.2 yards per attempt), and the
Ilogs' running back rotation of Chrys
Chukwuma and Cedric Cobbs. Look
for Anthony Lucas and Michael
'Williams to burn Alabama's shell-
shocked secondary en route to a
romp. After sustaining a shoulder
separation last week, Stoerner should
be ready to start under center for the
Hogs.
ARKANSAS 28, ALABAMA 10.
No. 18 UCLA (2-1) AT STANFORD
(2-1): Somebody please stand up for
the woeful Pac-10. The Cardinal,
coming off a 50-21 smacking of pre-
tender Arizona, will try to continue
their surge. UCLA's diversified
offense featuring big wide receivers
Brian Poli-Dixon and Danny Farmer,
scatback Jermaine Lewis, and future
star Deshaun Foster should light up
the vulnerable Stanford defense.
But the explosive Cardinal
offense, led by wide receiver Troy
Walters (30 consecutive points
against Arizona) should match the
Bruins. The defense that makes the
most big plays should win this Pac-
10 shootout.
UCLA 38, STANFORD 31.
COLORADO (2-1) AT WASHINGTON
(0-2): Rarely has there ever been a
game so marked with hatred between
coaches. Rick Neuheisel's departure
from Boulder has embittered many
of his former players, as well as cur-
rent Colorado head coach Gary
Barnett.
When kickoff finally comes
though, this game will eventually
come down to whether Huskies'
multi-threat quarterback Marques
Tuiasosopo can consistently make
plays, as he did in the second half
against Brigham Young two weeks
ago. He needs to be effective to com-
bat the Colorado passing game.
Look for Gary Barnett to take
some pressure off of ailing quarter-
back Mike Moschetti (sprained knee)
and opt to run the ball early, then
throw downfield to speedster wide
receiver Marcus Stiggers (20.1 yards
per catch) against the soft
Washington defense.
Colorado should be able to control
the ball and grind out the Huskies'
defense, especially late when the
emotion wears off and Washington's
lack of depth becomes a factor.
COLORADO 24, WASHINGTON 14
No. 21 MICHIGAN STATE (3-0) AT
ItI NOts (3-0): The Spartans'
dynamic passing attack, coupled
with emerging running back Lloyd
Clemons, should run through. the
Illini defense. Illinois won't be
walked over, as Kurt Kittner's
offense (422 yards per game) will
compete.
Give Illinois coach Ron Turner
credit though, for making a remark-
able turnaround from last year. Their
3-0 record cannot-be overlooked, but
their competition doesn't compare in
caliber to battle-toughened State.
The Spartans should come away
with another road win as they look
down the barrel at a potential unde-
feated showdown in East Lansing
with the Wolverines.
MICHIGAN STATE 27, ILLINOIS 10.
NORTHWESTERN (2-1) AT No. 11
PURDUE (3-0) (ESPN2 12 P.M.): Joe
Tiller's spread offense should shred
the inexperienced Northwestern sec-
ondary, a unit that hasn't faced a
decent passing threat this year.
The Mildcat offense won't be
much of a threat to Purdue, as Drew
Brees will fling the ball around to the
likes of Randall Lane, Chris Daniels,
and A.T. Simpson. Boilers will
steam by the 'Cats, then look ahead
to Big Blue in the following week.
PURDUE 42, NORTHWESTERN 14.
CINCINNATI (2-1) AT No. 10 OHito
STATE (2-1): Two Big Ten powers in
consecutive weeks? Nalt
The Buckeyes' newly found pass-
ing game should hit its strtde against
Cincinnati's porous defense that gave
up 425 yards to Wisconsin. Look for
Buckeyes' starter Steve Bellisari to
find speedster Ken-Yon Rambo
down the sideline, while Michael
Wiley powers the running game.
Cincinnati running back Robert
Cooper will try to duplicate his
effort against Wisconsin (143 yards
on 20 carries), but Ohio State's front
seven should stifle him enough to
expose the Bearcats' passing game.
Linebacker Na'il Diggs sharply crit-
icized the front seven for being
knocked around against previous
competition, most notably Miami.
He pointed to the ominous fact
that free safety Gary Berry has led
the team in tackles. The Ohio State
front should respond, at least in this
one. Cincinnati will try to grind out
first downs and control the clock, but
eventually the big-play Ohio State
offense should break the game open
in the second half.
OHIO STATE 40, CINCINNATI 20.
4V Eddie Drummond
and Penn State
passed their
nonconference
;tests, but now
must do battle
with speedy
Antwaan Randle-
El and 1-2
Indiana to kick
off the Big Ten
season.
AP PHOTO
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Tuesday, September 28, 1999
4:30 p.m.
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